Guest post by Golriz Green, lead Thaumazoologist at the Uni De Magica.

Gelins are a swamp dwelling race of goblins located within the southern reaches of the Furn woods. There are several tribes within reach of De Magica, although they keep to themselves and students and explorers to the woods are instructed not to encroach on their territory.

They live in damp caves, and hunt and gather in small bands. Intertribal warfare is not uncommon, and genetic diversity is kept stable with occasional matings between the groups and what humans would describe as slavery, although the Gelins themselves don’t seem to understand the concept or it’s moral ramifications.

a prime example of a matured Gelin preparing for mating

Over the year females feed as much as they can, building large fat reserves in their tails and surprisingly tongues. Once they hit a max capacity they are no longer able to keep their tongues in their mouths, leaving them in a permanent state of macroglossia until it goes down. Saliva running off their tongue has a pheremone effect on the males which leads to large gang-mating sessions with the tribe until fertilisation is achieved. This state is also exasperated by the tail which is an erogenous zone. As it becomes oversized it becomes hard for it not to be brushed up against by others in the tribe, and constantly dragging it through their natural habitat of mud only arouses the females further.

Gelins have similar biology to frogs, and will occasionally swap genders if there is a disparity within the tribe. Occasionally this has created hermaphroditic examples and Gelins displaying both male and female sexual dimorphism. Juveniles are easily identified by their nubs for tails.

They are hugely sensitive to environmental changes, and an upset in the environment can create catastrophic effects for tribes. In one instance a group had to disband after a contaminate flipped the entire population to female within a few weeks.